BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1783
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1783 (Dodd)
As Amended May 27, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Olsen, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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AB 1783
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SUMMARY: Requires a local educational agency located in an area
of higher seismicity to develop a plan and to conduct an
assessment of the contents in each school building to assess
whether furniture and equipment meet specified safety guidelines
in the event of an earthquake. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires, by January 1, 2018, each school district, county
office of education (COE), and charter school located in an
area of higher seismicity to develop a plan for the inspection
of the contents in each of its school buildings of areas that
are accessible to or occupied by pupils, including classrooms,
hallways, libraries, gymnasiums, multipurpose rooms,
cafeterias, computer rooms, administrative offices, and other
similar spaces.
2)Defines "higher seismicity" as an area with the result of .30g
or greater on the California Geological Survey's Ground Motion
Interpolator found on the Department of Conservation Internet
Web site.
3)Requires the Department of Conservation (DOC), on or before
February 1, 2017, to post instruction or a hyperlink on its
Internet Web site on how to determine whether a school
district, COE, or charter school is located in an area of
higher seismicity.
4)Specifies that the purpose of the plan shall be to assess
whether the contents comply with the guidelines set forth in
Chapter 3 of the "Guide and Checklist for Nonstructural
Earthquake Hazards in California School" (Guide) on furniture
and equipment published by the Office of Emergency Services
(OES), to identify school building contents that do not comply
with the guidelines, and to develop corrective actions.
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5)Requires the plan to be developed in consultation with a
California licensed civil or structural engineer or a
California licensed architect, a representative of a local
fire service agency, a school administrator or school business
official, a classroom teacher, and a representative of
classified school employees.
6)Requires the plan to include the following:
a) Designate the person responsible for performing the
assessment and developing corrective actions.
b) Identify all school buildings that are to be assessed
and the order of assessment.
c) A cost estimate for the assessment.
7)Requires the plan to be submitted to the governing board of
the school district, the COE, or the governing body of the
charter school at a public meeting.
8)Requires each school district, COE, and charter school to
complete the assessment by January 1, 2020. Requires the
person conducting the inspection to, at minimum, complete the
checklist for Chapter 3 published in the Guide.
9)Requires, within 60 days of completing the assessment, the
checklist of compliant and noncompliant contents to be
reported to the governing bodies of the school district, COE
or charter school. Requires the report to include a
prioritization of noncompliant items that present an immediate
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and serious threat to the safety of pupils and school
personnel and a set of recommended corrective actions.
10)Requires the governing bodies to review the report in a
public meeting and post the report on their Internet Web site.
11)Requires the superintendent of a school district, the county
superintendent of schools, or the chief administrator of a
charter school to annually certify in writing which corrective
actions have been taken and requires the certifications to be
posted on each governing body's Internet Web site.
12)Specifies that if a school district, COE, or charter school
completes an assessment before January 1, 2017, the school
district, COE, or charter school may report the assessment and
any corresponding corrective actions it takes to its
respective governing bodies to meet the reporting requirement.
13)Defines "contents" as including, but not limited to, file
cabinets, bookcases, desktop and countertop equipment,
equipment on carts, display cases, art objects, potted plants,
aquariums, equipment on wheels or rollers, such as pianos and
chalkboards, office equipment, refrigerators, vending
machines, shop and gym equipment, gas cylinders, gas piping
and storage racks.
14)Makes findings and declarations regarding damages from major
California earthquakes and that the August 24, 2014 South Napa
earthquake caused significant nonstructural damage that could
have been life threatening had the earthquake occurred during
school hours. Further finds and declares that school
classrooms should be examined to ensure that furnishings and
equipment are property located, anchored and braced to prevent
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harm to pupils and school personnel, and to ensure egress from
any room after an earthquake.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, unknown Proposition 98/General Fund state mandated
costs, likely in the low millions of dollars, for school
districts to develop and implement plans for the inspection of
school building areas accessible to children. Costs per
district could range from several hundred dollars to over
$200,000. Costs to implement a plan will vary depending on the
size of the district, the approach to review, and whether a plan
has already been developed. Additional resources may be needed
to make corrective actions if deemed necessary.
COMMENTS: Local educational agencies are eligible for state
school facilities bond funds administered through the School
Facility Program (SFP). The SFP requires a local educational
agency to receive approval from the California Department of
Education, to ensure that the selected site and school
specifications are safe and meet the school's education plan,
and the Division of State Architect (DSA), to ensure that the
architectural design plans meet fire, life and safety
requirements, Field Act requirements, and access requirements
under the Americans with Disability Act. The Field Act, named
after the author of the bill establishing the Act,
Assemblymember C. Don Field, was enacted in 1933 after an
earthquake in Long Beach. The Act authorized the State
Architect to develop a statewide building code to make all
buildings, especially school buildings, safe from earthquakes.
The Act has been strengthened since then and California's public
schools are commonly considered to be the safest public
buildings in the state. When DSA determines that the project
plans comply with all the necessary building codes and the Field
Act, the school district may proceed to construction of the
project.
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The Field addresses the structure of buildings. There are no
requirements regarding the contents, although there are
guidelines established in regulations under the Division of
Industrial Safety or requirements for insurance purposes.
Following the 1994 Northridge earthquake, SB 1122 (Alarcon),
Chapter 294, Statutes of 1999, was enacted to require the OES to
develop an educational pamphlet. According to a Senate
Committee analysis of the bill, the author stated that while the
Northridge earthquake caused minimal structural damage,
nonstructural hazards (e.g., light fixtures, ceilings, storage
cabinets, broken glass, etc.) may be life threatening to
students. The California Emergency Management Agency, in
consultation with the DSA, the Seismic Safety Commission and the
California Department of Education, developed the "Guide and
Checklist for Nonstructural Earthquake Hazards in California
School." The Guide covers three components within a building -
Ceilings and Overhead, Walls and Wall Mounted, and Furniture and
Equipment. It is unclear how many school districts have used
the recommendations in the Guide to secure nonstructural
contents within a school building.
This bill requires school districts, COEs and charter schools
located in areas of higher seismicity to develop a plan for
assessing whether furniture and equipment are in compliance with
the recommendations established in the Guide. Examples of
recommendations in the chapter for Furniture and Equipment
include arranging and fastening together file cabinets that are
more than three feet or securing the cabinets to walls to
prevent overturning, and restraining large or heavy office
equipment to prevent sliding or from blocking an exit way.
Under this bill, school districts, COEs and charter schools can
determine whether they are required to conduct the assessment by
using a tool located on the DOC's Internet Web site. Those that
meet the threshold established by the bill, intended to be those
located in areas where there is a higher risk of an earthquake,
are required to complete a plan by January 1, 2018, conduct the
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assessment of all schools in their jurisdictions by January 1,
2020, and submit a report to each of their governing bodies
within 60 days after completing the assessment. Amendments
adopted in the Assembly Appropriations Committee allow
assessments conducted prior to January 1, 2017 to be submitted
to the governing bodies to meet the reporting requirement. The
bill also requires district superintendents, county
superintendents and chief administrators of charter schools to
annually certify in writing corrective actions that have been
taken.
The author states, "The South Napa Earthquake struck early in
the morning on August 24, 2014. Structural damage to schools
was minimal. However, nonstructural damage was significant and
could have been life-threatening had the earthquake occurred
during school hours. Post-earthquake inspection showed file
cabinets had collapsed on desks, a drill press lying on the
floor, and bookcases blocking exits, among many other hazards.
The safety hazards posed by school contents during the South
Napa earthquake have been found in the aftermath of a number of
other earthquakes elsewhere in the state in previous years."
According to the author, replacing and repairing contents
damaged by the earthquake was estimated at $9 million for
schools in the Napa Unified School District.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0003295
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